we go to brett mcgurk an official in the bush and obama administration, where he focused on iraq and afghanistan policy. he's now a fellow at the council on foreign relations. and michael desch, a professor of political science at the university of notre dame, author of "civilian role of the military: the changing security environment." brett mcgurk, it was done swiftly and decisively by the president with support from both democrats and republicans but does the removal of stanley mcchrystal also create an occasion for opening a political debate over the prosecution of the war in afghanistan? >> its had that potential this morning at 9:00 or 10:00. following up from the other panel which had it very well analyzed, i think the president put a real mark. he took ownership again of this policy. he said the policy's not changing. and by putting dave petraeus in chand, that sends a resounding message throughout the military chain command, throughout the civilian ranks, the afghan partners and to the pakistanies. again, the president today, really an extraordinary day. but, again, it's wha

oversight of the fight against isis, special presidential envoy brett mcgurk. and, how cubans are grappling with the changing tides of u.s. travel, now that president trump is trying to weaken their government. >> within two weeks of the announcement that president trump gave in miami, we've lost over $250,000 in bookings. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: north korea had tough talk today for the united states, following the weekend adoption of new sanctions by the united nations. the new measures target north korea's already-limited export market, and seek to further isolate th

then, we will get a behind the scenes look at the iran prisoner swap from brett mcgurk, the lead american negotiator. and, the first in our series on understanding autism-- a history of how it was discovered, and why we may have higher rates today. >> i spoke to older parents who had been told by their psychiatrists to quietly remove the pictures of their children from the family album and never speak of them again. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the u.s. supreme court has set the stage for a major, election-year decision on immigration policy. the justices announced today they'll consider whether president obama overstepped his authority when he allowed millions of people to avoid deportation. we'll explore this in full, right after the news summary. there's word that

brett mcgurk, special presidential envoy, you're off the saudi arabia later today. where president obama will be. thank you very much for joiningf us. >>ni judy, thank you so much. great to be here. >> sreenivasan: now, for more on today's empire state primaryat we're joined by tamara keith of n.p.r. who is in new york city tonight, and in albany is karen dewitt, capitol bureau chief for new york state public radio. first, am the a, let me start with you. what are you looking for tonight? >> i'm looking for a margins of victory. donald trump is in search of a clean sweep of delegates. the only way he can get there is if he can get more than 50% of the vote. and on the democratic side, hillary clinton is widely expected to win here. bernie sanders' campaign is sending around an e-mail talking about how in 2008 she beat president obama by 17%, which seems to be setting up a question of what the margin would be this time. sanders is expected to do better than that. he's expected to keep it relatively close. the question is just how close. >> sreenivasan: karen, how abo

mcgurk, who was appointed by president obama and retained by mr. trump, warned earlier this month that it would be "reckless" to bring u.s. troopsi home from his departure comes just a day after defense secretary james hettis also quit over policy differences with administration. in a series of tweets today, president trump defended the decision to leave syria, saying "now isis is largely defeated and other local countries, including turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains." finaial markets were rattled this week by the shutdown and news of defense secretary james mattis' resignatn. see what that means for the u.s. economy at pbs.org/newshour. for our year-end broadcasts, thought we'd let you hear from the team of producers who bring you our newshour weekend stories each weeto gain some insight into our production and journalistic process, and maybe even hear few war stories ong the way. newshour weekend's hnii srsan recently sat down with the team of chris booker, laura fong, and mori rothman.an >> sreenivall right, chris, l

-- brett mcgurk, thank you for joining us. >> ifill: for more, we turn now to zalmay khalilzad.was u.s. ambassador to iraq during the george w. bush administration. he now has his own consulting firm. and laith kubba is senior director for the middle east and north africa at the national endowment for democracy. what can you tell us about al-abadi. >> i know mr. al abadi. he was a member of parliament when i was in baghdad. he has very distinguished background. he was from baghdadi family, a very well-known family. he's a member of the party that mr. maliki alsoes with a member of. he spent a lot of time in the united kingdom, got a ph.d there. so he knows the west and maybe more open to alternative ideas. he's got a big and difficult task ahead, not only dealing with the challenge of mr. maliki, but also to bring iraqis, shi'a, sunni, kurds together, form a government. and it's very difficult and challenging time. >> ifill: laith kubba, what can he accomplish that nouri al-maliki could not or cannot? >> well, number one, he is less threatening now to all other political blocs.

brett mcgurk, special presidential envoy, you're off the saudi arabia later today. where president obama will be. thank you very much for joining us. >> judy, thank you so much. great to be here. >> sreenivasan: now, for more on today's empire state primary we're joined by tamara keith of the in albany is karen dewitt capital bureau chief for new new york state public read oh. welcome to you. if you are the results that we know at this point. the associated press predictse donald trump has a resounding trick tree 59% to kasich 19 and it's too soon to call the democratic race between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. so let me start with you first. what do you read from the exit polls. >> what we see it's very interesting. the gop says they're divided. these people were asked, do youu feel like the campaigns have divided you or energized you. on the gop side 57% said divided. on the democratic side 68% said energized. that's fascinating to me. 26% of the republicans said they would they are vote for trump. with hillary clinton, 85% of democrats said they would vote

diplomat to the coalition fighting isis, brett mcgurk, also said he is leaving the administration early in protest of the troop drawdown from syria. for more on this we're joined now by "wall street journal" ter jessica donati who i in washington, d.c. so, what do we know about this tweet this morning where president trump basically announced that secretary of defense james mattis will be leaving two months early. what do you know about this decision? this is just speculation, but i would say that the president is probably frustrated with number of leak, is that have come oh the resignations this week with general mattis then presidential envoy as well. >> thompson: brett k who you just mentioned we learned yesterday that he's also gointo be leaving early, he was u.s. special envoy in the fight against isis, wt does all of this mean for the leadership in our fight against isis >> ihis it sends a message that the president has not been will listen to his top advisors, both on the military side and diplomat particular side. this will i suppose give him more frdom to pick people who are wi

in a letter today to the president, mcgurk said it was in the nation's best interests-- and his own-- that he remove his name from consideration. in syria, fresh shelling ripped through the embattled city of homs. smoke billowed from buildings as syrian forces fired on rebel- held neighborhoods. that was despite u.n. appeals to allow evacuations of families, the elderly, and t wounded. a spokeswoman for the u.n. observer mission called again today for both sides to allow humanitarian measures. >> to change their positions and release these civilians without any preconditions. they must ensure their safety. they must protect and respect their human life. if and when the decision is taken by both parties to release the civilians, we are ready and will be there and monitor their evacuation. >> sreenivasan: the surge in violence forced the 300 u.n. observers to suspend their mission on saturday. meanwhile, president obama and russian president vladimir putin discussed syria today at the g- 20 summit in mexico. but there was no sign they narrowed their differences. the u.s. has pressed rus

government for all of them actually from john kerry to brett mcgurk all the way down.rd for us to assess those efforts really. we weren't party to those discussions. and so we're just grateful that it was a positive outcome, eventually. woodruff: what do you know marty baron about jason rezaian's future? what are his plans professionally? >> that's for him to decide now, i'm not sure he has made any decisions along those lines. we didn't want to bombard him with a lot of questions after being released from prison after all this time. he is spending time with his wife, like any other couple trying the spend time with each other. i don't think he's prepared to make a lot of decisions at this stage. he will in due time but those will be his decision not ours. woodruff: i gather that the washington post does not have a reporter in iran, is that right, and either way what are the plans for the future? will you be having someone covering iran for post? >> well, obviously iran is a very important story, one that we want to cover in every way possible. but it's really prematur

top anti-isis official, bret mcgurk, just last week.end, mcgurk accelerated his february departure to protest the president's decision. he argued the u.s. should stay in syria, and better coordinate with allies, to ensuresis' defeat. >> nobody is declaring a mission accomplished. defeating a physical caliphate is one phase of a much longer- term campaign. >> schifrin: but the president opposes that kind of stabilization campaignn syria and in afghanistan, where u.s. officials say president trump wants to cut the 14,000 troops in half. most u.s. troops help train afghan forces, and serve as a symbol to support the afghan government. others fight isis and the taliban, helping create leverage in nascent peace talks between the taliban and lead u.s. negotiator zalmay khalilzad. but president trump says theil u.s. wl not support long-term military relationships without something in return.bs "we are ntially subsidizing the militaries ofou many very richries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of t.

is proceeding, and the larger fight against the extremists in iraq and syria, we we turn to brett mcgurk. he's the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter isil. i spoke with him a short time ago from the state department. for joining us, in the past few weeks we've seen the images of forces slowly moving into the suburbs of mosul. how long is it going to take to retake the city? >> thanks for having me. i just got back from about a week in iraq, and we're the third weekend of this operation. this is really a multi-month operation to clear and hold and stabilize a city of this size. we've always expected i.s.i.l to defend the city. they have suicide bombers, they're quite literally a suicide movement. they've spent years digging tunnels and defenses. what you've seen in the last couple of weeks is the iraqi security forces and peshmerga numbering through the outer crust of the defense, and they broke through that about a week ago, and now we have a fairly rapid advance, particularly into the western area of the city, and the other axes are also catching up and it's

presidential envoy brett mcgurk spoke on meet the press. >> in northern syria, as we speak the kurds with arab, free syrian army fighters an some christian organized units, they are taking, they are really giving a beating to isis and they are very close to cutting off the main supply route that isis has into its capital of raqqah. so there is a lot going on chuck. i think watch the euphrates valley over the next six months from raqqah to ramadi to fallujah. we're gonna be focused there. >> sreenivasan: and now to american politics. during an appearance tomorrow at miami dade college, jeb bush is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the republican nomination for president. today, on twitter, he released his campaign logo, jeb 2016. during an interview broadcast today on cnn, jeb bush was asked to define himself. he answered this way: >> who is jeb bush? >> well, jeb is different than george; jeb is who he is. my life story's different. >> sreenivasan: from california tonight, a report that accidental gunshots by los angeles county sheriff's deputies have more than doubled

in baghdad today, brett mcgurk said all ways out of mosul for isis fighters are blocked. an iraqi general said today troops had retaken a third of west mosul, after taking east mosul in january in the offensive that began last october. as many as 600,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in the city. a jihadist group linked to al qaeda is claiming responsibility for yesterday's twin suicide bombings in the syrian capital of damascus. the syrian observatory for human rights said today the death toll has risen to at least 74 people. the majority were iraqi pilgrims visiting shiite shrines. the group said one explosion was a roadside bomb, the other a suicide attacker. two days after south korea's constitutional court removed her from office for a corruption scandal, former south korean president park geun-hye left the presidential mansion. hundreds of supporters cheered park when she arrived at her residence in another part of seoul today. protesting her innocence, park said in a written statement, quote, "i believe the truth will certainly come out." as a private citize

secretary of defee, jim mattis, and american commander in charge of the alliance with the kurds, bret mcgurk, both resigned. >> ( translated ): to beonest this decision surprised us, especially when the fighting against the terroras not finished. >> reporter: amjad othman is t spokesperson of the syrian democratic council, the political umbrella of the s.d.f. >> ( translated ): it was not only the kurds who were shocked this decision. the christians were surprised, too, and also other arabs in the area. they know the regime will take revenge on them, so all the people in this area were fearful. it was not only the kurds who were nervous. >> reporter: since his tweet, president trump has backtracked, saying 400 u.s. troops will stas ia, half of them supporting the kurds. mona yacoubian is an analyst at the congressionally-funded u.s. institute of pe thshington. >> well, i think iu.s. pulls out or even leaves just a small, residual folle, the kurds ind themselves, i think, in a very precarious position. and the... the semi-automous area that they've managed to carve out of northeastern syria,

coalition, brett mcgurk, said on twitter: egypt's antiquities ministry announced today the discovery of two ancient tombs in the southern city of luxor that date back 3,500 years. the tombs from the 18th dynasty were found in a cemetery for nobleman, and officials hope the discovery will help boost egypt's struggling tourism industry. among the artifacts found were painted funerary masks, clay vessels, a collection of statues and a mummy wrapped in linen who is believed to have been a top official. >> sreenivasan: and join pbs newshour weekend online and on air tomorrow in the fight to cure cancer, researchers test new ways to bring clinical trials to more patients. >> it's just about life exoangz, like, if this would get you an extra six months, an extra year, an extra two years. because there is no cure for what i have. all we can do is manage. >> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weeken

. >> yang: and just last week, onis from brett mcgurk, special envoy to the coaliighting isis. >> i think it's fair to say americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring. nobody ideclaring a mission accomplished. >> yang: the uag.-led campaign nst isis began in 2014 with limited air strikes. while isis fighters have been cleared from most population centers, an estimated 10 to 15,000 remain in the countryside. moe of the american troops deployed in northern syria working with kurdish forces. thousands of other islamist militants, in addition to the last of the anti-assad rebels, are northwestern corner of the country. pro-government forces have a regained centr southern syria. the remaining isis pockets are near the syria-iraq border. some in the president's ownsa party a u.s. withdrawal could give isis new life. south carolina senator lindseygr am: >> if we do in fact withdraw, the biggest winners are going to be iran, isis, assad. the biggest losers i think are going to be the peopl

yang: they include high- ranking officials like bob work, deputy secretary of defense, and brett mcgurk, the top u.s. envoy to the anti-isis coalition. at the same time, spicer accused senate minority leader chuck schumer for slowing the confirmation of even the less cabinet picks. >> why are they delaying elaine chao? why are they not moving on ben carson? why are they not moving on governor nikki haley? >> if there were ever a group of cabinet nominees that cry out for rigorous scrutiny, it's this one. every day there's another report of a major ethical lapse among the nominees for the cabinet, the swamp cabinet. >> reporter: spicer said it's all politics. > >> these people have had their paperwork in, their quality and caliber and integrity is unquestionable. and i think to see some of these attacks and the focus not be on issues like schools and teachers and homeland security is-- is a problem. >> yang: this morning, mr. trump made his final cabinet pick: naming former georgia governor sonny perdue to be his agriculture secretary. perdue was the state's first republican governor sin

brett mcgurk is the top u.s.y to the coalition fighting isis, and has been working in iraq for over a decade. >> the referendum, to get to your question, just carries an awful lot of risks and that's not something that, that's not something the united states can control. >> reporter: kurds here know they will have to go it alone for now. >> ( translated ): for 100 years we are disappointed with the americans now, but i hope this will not last. i hope they understand that the kurds are only fighting for their rights, nothing else. >> reporter: in the capital of iraq's kurdish region, erbil, there is growing excitement about the latest independence bid. it would be very tough to find anyone in a market like this who doesn't support the referendum and independence, but beyond kurdistan's borders, anger is growing. neighboring countries turkey, syria and iran are threatening military action if more moves towards independence are made. they are afraid the kurdish minorities in their own countries could start agitating

brett mcgurk is the first senior u.s. official to set foot in syria since august of 2014.met with a variety of groups battling the militants, and said isis forces do not stand a chance. back in this country, newly released documents shed a bit more light on last may's amtrak crash in philadelphia. interview transcripts show the engineer, brandon bostian, saying he remembers trying to pick up speed, then hitting the brakes when the train hit a sharp curve, going too fast. but lawyers for the victims said they don't believe him. >> there was no problem with the signals, no problem with the tracks, no problem with the locomotive, no problem with the brakes, and what we've learned is that the problem was brandon bostian. no, we do not believe at all we believe that his inconsistent story speaks volumes about him and his credibility and believability at trial. >> ifill: the national transportation safety board says it has not yet reached any conclusions about the cause of the crash. and on wall street, stocks struggled to hold their own after a new plunge in oil prices. the dow